14 Years In, NATO Talks Further Extension of Afghan War

14 years into their occupation of Afghanistan, NATO officials are once again talking about an extension of the conflict, with several officials echoing recent Pentagon calls for “flexibility” on the plan to withdraw most of the troops in the country sometime after 2016.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said he believed a number of other NATO DMs were open to an even more open-ended deployment, and German DM Ursula von der Leyen talked up the idea of formal discussions on keeping NATO forces in Afghanistan longer.

It was only a few years ago that soaring antiwar sentiment across Europe had many countries looking to set a firm deadline on the war, but it seems that setting the deadline calmed the public enough that many believe they can now simply push the bar back and no one will really notice.

Pentagon officials have been pushing hard for more extensions of the already delayed drawdown, citing recent Taliban gains as well as the growing ISIS faction setting up shop in the country. The Taliban, by contrast, has suggested openness to peace talks, but wants to wait until after there’s a firm pullout date from NATO.

Author: Jason Ditz

Well now that it's clear that Putin will engage daesh militarily given the right opportunity, I bet the hope in Wash-Tin is that they'll draw Russia into Afghanistan. I can almost see the headlines now, "ISIS overruns Afghanistan"…"U.S. Strategy Deemed Ineffective"…"New Afghan Govt says would welcome Russian military assistance"…

Michael Kenny

If Putin is fool enough, so much the better, but that certainly isn't going to happen anytime soon and how long more will Putin last? Bogged down in Ukraine, bogged down in Syria!

Boris M Garsky

Americas only interest in Afghanistan is to protect the Israeli controlled opium cartel. Drugs and pedophilia are big bucks for America and Israel. This will end!!!

October 9, 2015 When the Aristocracy Leaves the Commoners in the Dust, The Empire Is Doomed

Historian Peter Turchin identified “the degree of solidarity felt between the commons and aristocracy” as a key ingredient of the Republic of Rome’s enormous success. Turchin calls this attribute of social structure vertical integration, a term that usually refers to a corporation owning its supply chain.http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/10/when-the-a…

Michael Kenny

If, 14 years on, the US still hasn't "won" the Afghan war, what chance has Putin of "beating" ISIS, or even the rebels, in Syria?